Anne Cheynet
Anne Cheynet | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 August 1938 |
| Died | 23 May 2025 (aged 86) |
| Occupation | Author |
Anne-Marie Thérèse Fontaine (23 August 1938 – 23 May 2025), known by her pen name Anne Cheynet, was a French author in Réunion. Her 1977 work Les Muselés is considered a significant contribution to Réunionnais literature, as the first novel to be formally labeled as "Réunionnais."[1]
Biography
[edit]Anne-Marie Thérèse Fontaine was born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, in 1938, and spent her childhood in the city's Saint-François neighborhood.[2] She traveled to Aix-en-Provence to study in 1956, remaining abroad until 1963.[3]
Back on the island, she worked as a secondary school teacher before getting involved in politics. She later returned to the classroom as a preschool teacher.[3]
She published her first book, the poetry collection Matanans et Langoutis, in 1972, followed by her best-known work, the novel Les Muselés, which is considered the first work billed as a "Réunionnais novel."[1][2] The novel, which has an activist slant, focuses on the lives of the poor in Réunion.[4] Cheynet, who was from a poor white family, drew on her experiences of discrimination during the island's colonial era.[2]
Anne Cheynet subsequently published several other books, including the poetry collection Ter tout' kouler and the short story collection Rivages maouls.[3] In 2022, she released a bilingual story collection illustrated by Claire Ruiz, La clé dans zot poche: Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier.[5]
Between 2001 and 2004, she produced three CDs of oral storytelling.[3]
She wrote in both French and Creole.[3]
Cheynet died on 23 May 2025, at the age of 86.[6][7]
Selected works
[edit]- Matanans et Langoutis (poetry), 1972
- Les Muselés (novel), L'Harmattan, 1977
- Ter tout' kouler : Poème pour la terre multicolore (poetry), vol. 1, Ravine des Sables, ADMV, 1992
- Rivages maouls : histoires d'Annabelle (autobiographical), vol. 1, Océan, 1994
- La clé dans zot poche: Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier (stories), Éditions Poisson Rouge, 2022
References
[edit]- ^ a b Nicole, Rose-May. (1996). Noirs, cafres et créoles : études de la représentation du non blanc réunionnais : documents et littératures réunionnaises 1710-1980. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7384-4615-9. OCLC 36876288.
- ^ a b c "Anne Cheynet, 5 Questions pour Île en île". Île en île (in French). 9 December 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Anne Cheynet". Île en île (in French). 4 August 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "Cheynet, Anne". The New Oxford companion to literature in French. France, Peter, 1935-. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1995. ISBN 978-0-19-173500-4. OCLC 223174819.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "La clé dans zot poche - Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier". La Réunion des Livres (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Écrivaine et militante, la Réunionnaise Anne Cheynet est décédée". Imaz Press (in French). 23 May 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
- ^ "Au nom des muselés, disparition de l'écrivaine Anne Cheynet". Le Quotidien (in French). 23 May 2025. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
External links
[edit]- Anne Cheynet discography at Discogs
- Interview with Anne Cheynet (in French)
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